According to Plan
by momoli
Summary: Samantha MacFarlan had her whole life planned before she even started Hogwarts: graduate as top Ravenclaw in her class, play Quidditch, get a successful job right out of Hogwarts, and live her mundane life out peacefully. But when the Sorting Hat puts her in the same house as the Marauders, will anything go according to plan?
1. Prologue

I never was the adventurous type. Not once as a child did I ever think I would have, or aim for a life full of craziness. My plan was simple; go to Hogwarts, be sorted into Ravenclaw (like my parents), graduate with the best grades of my class, get a good job right out of school and live out my life successfully.

But of course, anything story worth telling was never something that had gone according to plan.  
I definitely graduated Hogwarts at the top of my class, but all the rest was shot to hell. I should have predicted that when the Hat put me in Gryffindor, my life was bound to be one crazily, chaotic ride.

Up until now, I successfully dropped off the face of the wizarding world and found solace living among muggles. It helped me pretend like my past never existed.

The date is 24 July, 1993. In eight days, I am beginning my post as Arithmancy professor at Hogwarts, as requested by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (who, coincidentally, was once my own professor). I almost didn't accept, but anyone who knows Professor Dumbledore knows he isn't a man you can easily say no to.  
I am to be joined by an old best friend of mine, Remus Lupin, who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. I haven't spoken to him in years, though I suppose the rift between us was more than understandable. I had only become close with him because of my husband, after all.

Before I go any further, let me introduce myself properly.  
My name is Samantha Black; wife of the infamous Azkaban prisoner, Sirius Black.

I'm sure it is more than obvious by now that my life went anything but according to plan.


	2. Chapter One

Trouble wasn't always drawn to me. As a child, I was never mouthy, always quiet, well-behaved. I thoroughly blame Hogwarts and the Marauders for my full-circle change. Everything in my life changed as soon as I stepped onto the Hogwarts Express.

* * *

Walking through Platform 9 3/4 for the first time reaffirmed to me that there was no place I'd rather be than in the wizarding world. Growing up as a pureblood witch didn't even amount to the amazement I felt seeing the large, red train waiting for me to board it.  
My parents hugged me goodbye, wishing me good luck (not that I'd need it), and telling me to be safe (of course). I told them I'd write as soon as I could from my Ravenclaw dormitory and tell them how my experience was going so far.  
I boarded the train, dragging my luggage along with me, and attempted to find an empty compartment as soon as I could.  
Opening a door to a compartment I thought was empty, I quickly realized I was wrong. In the corner next to the window sat a girl, hair red as the feathers of a phoenix. She turned to me and smiled, green eyes twinkling with excitement.  
"Hello," she said, "I'm Lily Evans."  
She extended a hand, and I took it, smiling back.  
"Samantha MacFarlan."

She invited me to sit down, and I did. And after talking to her for just five minutes, I could tell we were going to be great friends.  
She was muggleborn, which was frowned upon by some, but she couldn't help the way she was born. She seemed genuinely kind, and rather reserved like myself. She didn't know much about the magical world, which her bloodline would show, but she told me she had a friend, Severus, who had told her many things about the world I grew up in.  
"He is very sweet," she insisted, "he's always been nothing but nice to me. He's a little weird, but that's just how he is."  
And, as if on some sort of queue, we heard some sort of commotion out in the hallway, and a scraggly, dark haired boy was pushed against our compartment's clear glass door.  
"Sev!" Lily shouted, concerned, standing up. I stood as well, and we both pulled the door open.

Four boys were laughing, jeering at the boy with the long black hair, whom I assumed to be Severus.  
"What's the matter, you're not upset are you?" the one with glasses teased, and the boy next to him barked a laugh. I looked over at them, realizing they were picking on Severus.  
Lily realized the same, and immediately went to Severus' defense, stepping in front of him. "All of you, leave Severus alone." She said sternly, and the boy who laughed before laughed again.  
"Severus? Looks more like a _Snivellus_ right now to me." He looked at the poor boy behind Lily. "Do you need your mommy, Snivellus?"  
Severus glared, and Lily crossed her arms. The boy with glasses smiled coyly at her.  
"You're lucky you're so pretty," he winked, "I'll see you around school."  
"Hopefully not." Lily scathed, and the boy put his hand over his heart.  
"You're so sweet. See you around, Snivellus!"  
And with that they all walked away.

Lily immediately turned around, going to Severus' aid.  
"Sev are you alright?"  
Severus nodded, and joined us in the compartment.  
He was weird, but not too odd. I think Lily found him weirder than I did because she grew up non-magical, and all Severus talked about was magic.  
He went on and on about magic, spells, how much he enjoyed Diagon Alley. He was incredible with spells. He knew more spells than I did, even if most of what he knew were curses. We talked about our wands. His was yew with a dragon heartstring core , Lily's was made of willow with a unicorn core.  
My wand was a perfect fit for me. I knew as soon as I held it that we would do great things together. It was made from the wood of a walnut tree, and had a phoenix feather core. Ollivander told me that all witches and wizards that have been chosen by a wand made of walnut wood were extremely intelligent and became great innovators or inventors. That thrilled me to no end. I had no doubt in my mind that I would be sorted into Ravenclaw at that point.  
We were joined later by two girls named Mary Macdonald and Marlene McKinnon. I could tell they thought Severus was odd, but he and I continuted to talk about magic while the three girls had their own conversations.  
Sev and I got onto the topic of which House we wished to be sorted into. He told me he was hoping for Slytherin and I wasn't the least bit shocked. Ambitious, intelligent, dark.. he was practically the embodiment of a Slytherin student.  
"It would only make sense that you have the desire to be in Ravenclaw," he said, " even your wand says it all. Intelligence above everything."  
Summed me up about right. I just had such fantastic dreams about going places in life, doing something important. I could think about it all day long. Creating new spells, potions that will make a difference. I couldn't wait to get started.

The Sorting Ceremony was incredible. Four long tables representing each house, the professors and Headmaster sitting at the long table in the front of the room. The ceiling looked like a night sky, illuminated by floating candles. The girls and I were in awe, them purely of the beauty, I because of the amazing magic it must take to maintain such a sight.  
We watched as our fellow first years got sorted into their respective houses, and those already seated cheering as they made their way to the table they'd be sitting at for the next seven years of their lives.  
One of the boys who was picking on Sev, who I learned to be Sirius Black, was put into Gryffindor. Many gasps echoed in the Great Hall as we were all confused as to why he wasn't put into Slytherin, like his entire family before him.  
But Gryffindor erupted into a roar, cheering as he joined them at their table.  
Lily was also sorted into Gryffindor, which made sense, as she was all things Gryffindors were made out to be (except for their reputation for being arrogant and cocky - she was sweet and modest). Severus was pretty let down about this, but it was unrealistic in the first place for him to think she could ever possibly get put into Slytherin with him.  
Sooner than I could say _Rowena_ it was my turn to be sorted. The Headmaster called my name, and Sev nodded supportively, telling me to go up to the stool.  
I could feel the butterflies erupting in my stomach as I slowly made my way up to the front of the Great Hall. I had been waiting for this day since I knew what Hogwarts was. I was finally going to be able to begin my journey to do something great.  
The Hat was placed on my head and I immediately felt as if something bad was going to happen. It began to speak, and the butterflies multiplied.

"A MacFarlan, eh? I knew both your parents, your grandparents as well. All did great things. Your father, heard he's doing great things for Quidditch, though it always was quite his niche. Wonder if the same goes for his daughter.."  
It did. My father, Hamish MacFarlan, was the captain of the Montrose Magpies for eleven years. He was absolutely incredible at Quidditch, obviously, as he started playing professionally as soon as he graduated, and remained captain of the greatest professional Quidditch team of all time. He, of course, has passed all his natural talent down to me (one of my only talents is being quicker than lightning on a broomstick), as well as attempted to teach me everything he knows about the sport. Even the smallest details about the stats of the worst keeper on the worst team (the Chudley Cannons) was up there in my eleven-year old brain, just waiting for someone to test me on all the things no one wanted or needed to know about Quidditch. Not only that, but I couldn't wait to try out for the team here.  
The _Ravenclaw_ team, mind you.

But it seemed the Hat had other ideas. "Ravenclaw? Definitely not. You are way too realistic and've too much nerve for that. You are, undeniably.."  
I was going to throw up. "GRYFFINDOR!"  
I wanted to die. I wanted to die. I wanted to die.  
I looked over at the Ravenclaw table longingly as I dragged my feet over to the cheering Gryffindors and took a seat next to Lily.  
"Hell yeah!" I heard one say.  
"We got MacFarlan!"  
"We'll definitely win the cup now!" Shouted another.  
"Make sure to tell her about try-outs!"

Sirius Black leaned across a few people to talk to me. "MacFarlan? As in Hamish MacFarlan?"  
I nodded my head, heart broken. He took back his seat as the Sorting kept going.  
How was I going to do great things in Gryffindor? There was no amazingly intelligent inventors from this house! What about my wand? I was supposed to be the newest addition to the Ravenclaw House. How could the hat do this to me!?

"Potter, James."  
"-Gryffindor!"

Lily and I both rolled my eyes as we saw the boy with glasses high-five Sirius Black as they jumped on the bench, hooting at the rest of the Gryffindors. They then pushed aside the people sitting on either side of Lily, sitting down next to her. James Potter tried putting his arm around her, and she pushed him off the bench. Sirius barked a laugh.  
We both knew in that moment we now had to deal with the most insufferable boys in the entire school as our classmates.

Severus _was_ sorted into Slytherin, just as he had wanted.


	3. Chapter Two

Lily, Marlene, Mary, and I all took a dormitory together, put our things down, settled in, and then made our way to the Gryffindor Common Room. It was cozier than I had imagined, as I envisioned the Hufflepuff Common Room to be the cozy one. The Gryffindor Common Room had an enormous fireplace, a large couch directly in front of it. Three chairs were on either side of the couch; two on one side, one on the other. There was a cluster of chairs closer to the staircase, where many students were watching two play a game of Wizard's Chess.  
"Queen to E-5!" we heard, and walked over to watch as James Potter won his game against Sirius Black. Sirius groaned, and everyone around them clapped. Lily and I made our way over to the couch by the fireplace, enjoying the fireplace. Lily had a large smile on her face, and I could tell she was easily excitable by magic, a product of her unfortunate upbringing.

"You always win!" Sirius complained, and got up with James. We looked over to see them make their way over the where we were, on the couch.  
Sirius took a chair, and James attempted to sit next to Lily on the couch, just for her to get up and walk back up to our dormitory.  
I chuckled, and followed, ready to tuck in for the night.

My parents were surprised, but not shocked, that I was put in Gryffindor. They told me that once they thought about it, the Hat made sense sorting me the way it did. Though I would never use the word "brave" to describe me, I definitely had nerve. Having a bold father like mine taught me not to be too weak at heart. The Hat must have seen something in me to "definitely not" put me into the Ravenclaw house, my parents reasoned. It made sense, but I was definitely upset about the way my sorting went. My entire life I had expected to be in Ravenclaw; I felt as if I didn't even know who I was at this point.  
My parents reassured me that I don't have to be in Ravenclaw to be the person I wanted to be, and that I could still do great things, and have the top grades. The only thing I couldn't do was play quidditch on the Ravenclaw team. I could still play for Gryffindor, my father made sure to say, and that I should definitely try out as soon as the hold try-outs.  
"Gotta make sure my little girl is upholding the family reputation." He had said, which made me laugh. I was never one to brag, but I was very good at Quidditch. My father always joked that I was born with a broom in my hand. If inventing something didn't work out, my fall-back plan was to playing professional Quidditch. Not only was I good enough, but considering who my father was, I wouldn't have to try very hard to get offers from teams.  
So, if being a Gryffindor somehow made me more brave and less intelligent over the years, at least I could be an athlete.

They told me that they were proud of me nonetheless, and knew I would succeed no matter where I was sorted. And that, to me, made everything better.

* * *

I did succeed in the Gryffindor House. I quickly became an active member of my house, no longer shunning where I was sorted. By the end of my sixth year, I had won the Quidditch cup with my team four years in a row. I had the top marks in all my classes out of my entire year, and my best friend was constantly being publicly harrassed by the most popular guy in the entire school.  
James Potter continued to pine after Lily Evans ever since the day on the train to school. He was also my Quidditch captain. James was actually a very good Quidditch player, and was one of the Chasers on our team. His best friend, Sirius Black, a Beater. Their two other best friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, didn't play Quidditch. Lily didn't play, either, but Marlene did, and was an awesome Chaser as well. William Peakes, a thin, blonde boy, was our third Chaser, and Simon Kirke was our second Beater. Simon definitely outweighed Sirius in the bulk department, as he looked as if he was twice Sirius' size, but Sirius was very good with a bat and had a quick reflex.  
Last but not least, the Seeker. That would be none other than your's truly. I don't want to toot my own horn and say I pretty much win every game for us, but I pretty much win every game for us. If I wasn't so concerned about my studies taking a hit, I would have ran for team captain myself, against Potter, but I took pride in the fact that I had top grades and was still playing sports. I had to maintain a balance if I wanted to keep up with everything.

Lily and I became best friends since first year. We were virtually inseperable, and considering she was almost as smart as I was, she was in all of my classes, which meant I always had a seating partner.  
Somehow, Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were in all of our classes as well. Lily still hated the lot of them, but I tolerated them because of Quidditch. I definitely respected them as team mates, but as men, I thought them to be slightly less than quality.  
James was absolutely daft, especially when it came to the opposite gender. Girls would throw themselves all over him because he was good at sport, but he never knew how to keep them around. Not that he had wanted to, because ultimately, the only girl he ever truly wanted was Lily.  
Remus Lupin was painfully reserved, even moreso than I was, and seemed to never let anyone see the true him, aside from his closest friends. A girlfriend didn't appear in my vision of his future, ever.  
Peter Pettigrew was a scrawny, jittery little boy who never seemed to grow in height. His hair was literally dirty blonde; I think it would have had a nice strawberry-blonde tone if he ever bathed. He was nice, but meek, and rather pathetic when it came to communicating even a "hello" to a girl.  
Then there was Sirius Black. I wouldn't consider him the resident playboy of Hogwarts, but I probably should. Seeing him being such a great team mate on the field clouded my view of him off the field. He had a way of making every girl fall for him, and then would get over them rather quickly. No one ever expected him to settle down.

During our fifth year, Lily became estranged from Severus when he accidentally called her a mudblood in a fit of upset. It was a horrible day for all of us, especially Lily. They literally grew up together, and he was the one who showed her into the world of wizardry. She was heartbroken when she severed ties with him, and I had to comfort her. She asked me never to speak to him again, and I told her that I would talk to him less. Though he wronged her, he did not ever wrong me, and though he didn't deserve my full friendship anymore, I wasn't going to just abandon someone because he hurt my friend's feelings.  
The friendship I had with Sev after that was extremely strained, to the point where it was almost painful to be around him sometimes, but we tried. It was hard, when it seemed like every time we spoke, he asked me to have Lily speak to him. He was always in love with her, but after she kicked him out of her life it was as if the love turned to a sick obsession. He stalked her sometimes, showing up where we would happen to be. It was really sad to see someone I respected become so pathetic.

My first six years at Hogwarts weren't anything but the life of a girl doing well in school, but once I reached my seventh year, everything changed. I had no idea of all the things that would come my way that year, nor could I have ever been prepared.  
Little did I know, my sixth year at Hogwarts was the last peaceful year I ever had.


	4. Chapter Three

Despite the fact that it was sometimes sad to hang out with Severus, I still liked to. Some days, it would be just like it used to be, where we would talk about all the things we wanted to do after school, and all the things we wanted to contribute to the magical world.  
Severus was absolutely amazing; by now, he'd already invented his own spells, and they worked beautifully. He'd taught me all of them, though some I hadn't been able to use. Like _sectumsempra_, which he told me only to use if I was trapped in a corner by my greatest enemy. He told me that particular spell does a great deal of damage.  
We also made a spell together, called _Levicorpus_. It lifts the target upside down by their ankle. It was meant to be for fun, but I was foolish enough to had told James and Sirius about it one day at practice (mind you, I told them I created it myself). They then went and turned it against Sev himself, the day he called Lily a mudblood. I felt, terrible, really, because I suppose in a way I was responsible for the falling out between them, but I didn't think James would use it on Severus to begin with. I was sort of just showing off, because I always liked to remind the boys that girls weren't second rate at anything. It's really easy to feel like you aren't as important or impressive as people like the Marauders; everyone knew who they were and everyone wanted to be their friend.  
Not that I wasn't content with who I was. People knew who I was around school; I was the star seeker of Hogwarts for years in a row and had the top grades above all other students (though just barely above Remus Lupin and Severus).

Severus and I usually sat together in Defense Against the Dark Arts, our last class of the day. Lily granted me this without issue, because I told her how I felt about just letting go of my friendship with him, and it was one of the few times I ever spent time with him. I knew it bothered Lily, but at the same time, she had Marlene, Mary, and Alice Longbottom to sit with. Lily and Marlene usually sat at one table together, and the other two at another.  
We also shared this class with the Marauders, which would be bearable, if Lily and Sev weren't also there.

"So, how is Lily?" Severus said, and I sigh. "She's fine Sev. Still wants nothing to do with you."  
He huffed. "I was only asking how she was doing is all."  
He went back to scribbling notes down dilligently in his notebook. We had just begun the school year, and were learning about Lycanthropy. Werewolves intrigued me. Severus and I always spoke about working on a more powerful wolvesbane potion together. We both wanted to be something in the world, and do something important. If he could focus less on getting an apology from Lily, he would have had a much better mindset to do so.  
Suddenly he whipped his head around, glaring towards the back of the room. I looked as well, and saw James and Sirius laughing.  
Sev picked the paper ball off the floor and charmed it, sending it back at them. It hit James in the face, sticking to his cheek.  
James tried desperately to get it off, but couldn't. Sirius started laughing uncontrollably.

"Mister Black, Potter," Professor Mironi belted out boldly, "maybe if you paid attention in my class, rather than fooling around like first years, you would have higher grades."  
"But, professor! Snape stuck this to me!" James exclaimed, and the professor raised an eyebrow.  
"Severus would never do such a thing, don't be foolish. Take yourself to the infirmary and get that removed from your face. And, Mister Black, I expect to speak with you after class."  
Sirius sighed as James got up from his table. "Yes Professor.."

When class let out, I gathered my things and stood up, about to follow Severus out of the room, when I heard my professor call me to his desk.  
As I approached, I saw Sirius standing there as well, and I shook my head at him.  
"Yes, Professor?"  
He cleared his throat. "I can't help but notice you are exceeding expectations consistently in all of your classes, namely mine. And as you have more than likely noticed, Sirius here is barely scraping by. And, considering his desires are to become an Auror, he needs to be doing better in this class."  
I nodded, smirking. Sirius wanted to be an Auror? That was new. I expected him and James to become some sort of professional pranksters or something.  
"Sir, just because I may fool around sometimes, doesn't mean I don't pay attention. I'm doing fine."  
"Fine is not good enough to get into Auror training, Mister Black, and your way of charm will not get you in either. That is why I am going to have Miss MacFarlan here tutor you."  
I knew my eyes were bugging out of my head. Was he out of his mind? Me tutor Sirius?  
"Sir, I assure you, I don't need a tutor." The boy to the right of me said, but our professor insisted.  
"Then why not Remus?" Sirius pleaded, "He's my friend, he'd love to help me out."  
The professor shook his head. "Friendship is exactly why Mister Lupin is the wrong choice. And as motivation, and I'm sure all your other professors will agree with me on this, you will not be permitted to participate in any extra-curricular activities unless your grades go up."  
"WHAT!?" Sirius shouted, deafening my right ear, "But Quidditch!?"  
At this, I stood up for him. "Professor, surely I'll tutor him, fine, but we don't have a replacement Beater. He can't just _not play_."  
"Sure he can't, and until his grades are up, he won't."  
Sirius and I looked at each other and he ran a hand through his unruly hair. "Shit."  
"Ten points from Gryffindor for foul language in my classroom, Sirius Black, now good day to both of you."

I stormed out of the classroom, infuriated that my Quidditch team's future now rested on Sirius Black getting his shit together in the classroom. Gryffindor was doomed.

"Samantha! Samantha, wait up!"  
I rolled my eyes, hearing Sirius' voice. He was the only one who ever called me Samantha, and it completely got on my nerves.  
I slowed down, allowing him to catch up to me.  
"So, do you want to just sit together in classes and I'll copy your notes, or..?"  
I stopped, levelling him with my eyes. "Are you serious?"  
He looked confused, as if he was surprised I wasn't going to just let him cheat his way through school. "What do you mean? Of course I am."  
"You're out of your mind if you really think I'm going to hand my hard work over to you. I work way too hard to let you take credit for my work."  
He rolled his eyes, sighing. "Why must you be so proud? You're really going to go through with this tutoring business?"  
I started walking again, towards the Common Room, him right behind me. "Yep."  
He huffed in annoyance. "Why can't you be like every other girl and just give me your notes?"  
I laughed. "I'll never be like any of the birds you pull."  
"What is that supposed to mean? What are they like?" He almost sounded like my response bothered him.  
"Brainless and lacking morals, easy to lift their skirts for a handsome face."  
At that he chuckled. "You think I'm handsome?"  
I glanced at him. "Keep dreaming. You're not getting out of tutoring."  
He groaned as we got the the portrait of the Fat Lady,  
"Fine. When do we begin?"  
-

Dinner was interesting.  
"You're _what_?!"  
"Or else _what_?!"

Lily was appalled that I would be spending one-on-one time with James Potter's best friend. James was infuriated that the professor would threaten Quidditch against one of our team members.  
Not that I was thrilled with either, for the record. Sirius and the Marauders sat a small ways away from us at the table. I could hear James angry at the fact that he really might not play Quidditch.  
Lily, on the other hand, was right in front of me.  
"I can't believe Professor Mironi would make you do that. That's just ridiculous! You don't have the time to be babysitting Sirius Black."  
I shrugged. "There's nothing I can do, Lil. The professor wouldn't let me say no."  
"At least he's cute!" Marlene piped in, taking a bite of her chicken leg. "You can't really go wrong with a face like that."  
Mary nodded, "I wouldn't mind spending some alone time with those eyes."

I rolled my own eyes. "Guys, I'm only doing this for the sake of the team."  
"We could just find a substitute Beater." Marlene said, and I shook my head. She took another bite of chicken.  
"Yeah, but not one as good as Sirius. I can't risk losing the cup my last year of school."

"Aw, Samantha! You really think I'm that good?"  
Sirius' head appeared next to mine, his arm going around my shoulders.  
"At Quidditch, yes."  
He made a puppy-dog face, half grinning. He stood. "Did you hear that!? Quidditch prodigy Samantha MacFarlan thinks I'm good at Quidditch!"  
I pulled him down by the arm into sitting on the bench next to me. "Stop that."  
"Okay. But really, you're not too bad either."  
"I'd say I'm a bit more than '_not too bad_'.." I squinted my eyes at him in mock-anger, and he smiled, his one dimple creasing.  
"Alright, you're amazing, _whatever_."  
"Not as amazing as my wonderful Lilyflower!" James popped up out of nowhere, attempting to put his arm around Lily, which was met with a hard push. Sirius barked a laugh, which was loud enough to mask my own.  
"Keep dreaming, James Potter. I want nothing to do with you."  
"But, Lily, please, just give me _one_ date-"  
"I'll give you nothing! Leave me alone." Her face started getting red in annoyance.  
"I will leave you alone if you agree to _one_ date- please!"  
"NO."  
She was starting to get irritated, which usually happened whenever James was around.  
I looked over at Sirius, hoping he would understand was my look meant, and he nodded.  
As Lily starting shouting slurs of hate at James, he and I ducked out the door up to the Common Room.


	5. Chapter Four

Quidditch practice the next morning was a mess. Everybody was distracted as soon as Sirius and I said we would be starting tutoring sessions together so that he could stay on the team.  
"You're tutoring _Sirius_?"  
"So, he can't play anymore?"  
"Are we gonna need a replacement?"

Simon mentioned that he knew someone who was interested in trying out for the Beater position, and Sirius' eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.  
"Absolutely not. It's _my_ spot, Kirke, no one else's."  
Simon rolled his eyes. "You can't even play. Don't act like you're going to raise your grades. You've had shitty grades since first year!"  
Sirius huffed. "So? I haven't even tried. If I did, I'd be making better marks than you."  
The team laughed, excluding James and me. Sirius crossed his arms.  
"Whatever. You'll see. I'll have top scores in all my classes, and _still _outplay you."  
The larger Beater scoffed, puffing out his chest in an attempt to show Sirius up in something.

I couldn't help but chuckle and roll my eyes. _Boys._ Always ridiculously trying to outshine the others, rather than let their own qualities shine on their own. Like Simon, was _really_ kindhearted, despite all his muscles, and despite him flexing them to look better than Sirius. He was very hardworking, and did anything for anyone who asked. If it weren't for how much pride he took in his athletisism, he probably would have been a Hufflepuff. In our first year Flying lesson, he was third to get his broom off the ground (after me, then James), even before Sirius. He was just as good a Beater as Sirius, if just in a completely different way.  
Sirius was an amazing Beater because he was nimble and quick. His reaction time was near perfect, and he had amazing reflexes. He was quick on his feet, and because of this, was amazing in duels. Watching him and James in Defence Against the Dark Arts was like watching two dancers perform, ducking and spinning, throwing spells and jinxes at each other. I admit, sometimes when practicing in partners I'd get caught up in staring at the two of them. Sirius just had a level head, most of the time, but he let his quick tongue get the best of him.  
Since playing Quidditch with these guys for years, I couldn't help but notice their great, and not-so-great qualities.  
Simon tried to put on a tough-guy act, which worked well because he is so built, but he is a sucker for girls. He would do anything for anyone who batted their eyelashes in his direction. It was his number one flaw, because despite acting tough, he was a pushover on the inside.  
Sirius was more the opposite. He appeared soft and sweet to outsiders, but any girl he let into his life, he eventually kicked out. I'd heard girls in the dormitories talk about what an amazing lover he had been, and not long after, what a terrible heartbreak. I'd seen many girls sob over him leaving them, as if it was the end of their worlds.  
You know when you're hearing about how broken their hearts were from every girl he'd dated, whatever he did, he did it well. And while this may be something to boast about, on his behalf, it was also his biggest fault. In our seventh year, he still hadn't had one wholesome, long-lasting relationship. Not one. And perhaps that was what he wanted, but I could see, sometimes in the Common Room when things quieted down, he would look over at the couples by the fireplace longingly, as if it was what he had wanted.

While the rest of the team was stretching, James and I went over a new formation for the team I had been working on. I did my own stretches while he ran it by the team, and I mounted my broom, flying up into the air.  
Being on a broom was like nothing else in the world. It was literally the most freedom anyone could ever feel. The way your hair blows in the wind, seeing everything out in front of you, any location just moments away. All you have to do is lean forward, and you could go anywhere you wanted to go.  
I had been flying since I could walk, thanks to my dad being who he was. He wanted his child to be just like him, since my mom didn't play Quidditch, he needed someone to share that interest. Luckily for him, I got his natural flying ability. I was a blur on a broomstick, which was what led him to teach me how to Seek. Learning Quidditch from my father was a blessing and a curse, as it caused us to argue endlessly, but grow infinitely closer.  
Aside from Lily, my father was definitely my best friend. We were each others' biggest fans.

The rest of the team flew up in the air to practice the new play, James released the balls, and threw the Quaffle up.  
The snitch flitted up and away quickly, and I was off.  
It took me two minutes and thiry-nine seconds to catch it.

James clapped, applauding me, and the rest of my team hooted as they continued practicing.  
Sirius whistled, and I laughed. I lowered my broom to the ground and watched the rest of practice. My team caught on to the routine I showed James rather quickly, and were performing it well. I was excited to watch them in action in our games.  
That was, as long as Sirius raised his grades. Because, although we could have gotten a new Beater, our team really wouldn't have been the same without Sirius. When James got a bit too intense about practice, you could always count on Sirius to get him back in check. When someone got frustrated and took out their anger on another teammate, Sirius was always there to calm everyone down. When we were all stressed about a big game, Sirius could always make us feel better with a good laugh. He kind of kept our team sane.  
I watched as our new Keeper, Lucia Stowe, flipped her hair by the goal posts. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Lucia was new to our team, and I was thoroughly convinced that James and Sirius only picked her because she was an attractive female.  
I was pretty sure she knew that's why she was chosen, too, but she definitely didn't mind. She was a less than mediocre Keeper, so I don't think that was why she had tried out in the first place. Many girls tried out for the team just to try and talk to Sirius and James. None of them were actually good (okay at best), but James let them play regardless just so that he and Sirius could talk to them. It was annoying, but who was I to tell them how to live their lives? The rest of the team was good enough that we scored more goals regardless of how terrible our Keeper was, and caught the Snitch before the other team.  
After watching them for a little while, I grew bored and re-released the Snitch into the air, mounted my broom, and began to chase it again.

Hours later, James decided to end practice. He told us we all did well, and told Lucia she did great. Sirius agreed, winking at her, which made her giggle and blush, and me roll my eyes. Girls got so pathetic over Sirius' mere presence, it was pathetic. I felt bad for any girl who fell for him, honestly, after seeing what happens to every girl who does. It always ends up in tears.  
Marlene and I made our way back up to the school, to shower in our dormitory.  
Lucia trailed behind with James and Sirius, Simon and William going to shower in the locker room.  
Marlene and I couldn't help but eavesdrop on the blonde's conversation with the boys behind us.  
"I'm like, so glad you guys decided to have me on the team. I'm so grateful, honestly, I always just play for fun at home but I was never on a real team before."  
"Well," Sirius said, "now you are."  
She giggled. "I'm super excited."  
"So am I," he responded, "can't wait to see how you play during a real game."  
"Oh, I'll play _really_ hard.." I could tell she was trying to flirt with him, but it honestly just annoyed me. She was just another girl of many, especially when it came to Sirius. He changed girls like he changed his underwear - every day. Lucia Stowe would soon be another notch on his bedpost.

* * *

I made my way to the bathroom as soon as I got back to the castle so I could shower.  
I stood in front of the full-length mirror on the wall and looked at myself after I undressed.  
I definitely wasn't ugly, getting my extremely feminine, good looks from my mother. My nose was small and narrow, perfectly proportioned for my face. My lips were pink and not too thin, my skin luckily clear as porcelain. I had a bad time during third year when it came to my skin, as that was the year I had to battle the awkward, gawky, acne stage. That stage was far over, and my small, built body was tanned from being outside with my father all summer.  
I stopped growing after fifth year, only 5'2, and had a typical athlete metabolism, which kept me from gaining weight no matter what junk I shoved down my throat, if I ever did. My parents always drilled healthy eating into my brain, and so I typically only ate junk food when I was having a really rough day. I lacked major curves but had a definite shape, not quite an hourglass, but not too near pencil thin. I had my mother's body and structure, her facial features, her dainty hands and feet, but my hair and eyes were all my dad. While my mom was the epitome of perfection with her straight blonde hair and baby blue eyes, my father gave to me his black curls and green eyes. I kept my hair cut relatively short, to the middle of my neck, even as a child, to my mother's disdain. It made playing Quidditch much easier than if my locks were long. My bangs were short and straight across, just above my eyebrows, initially at my mother's request, because she told me I looked like a boy with my short hair parted down the middle. As time went by, I grew to prefer bangs, and so I kept them by choice.  
I wasn't necessarily bland looking, but in my opinion I looked like an average girl.

I stepped in the shower, letting the hot water hit me like a scalding rain. My hair stuck to my head and I felt the dirt rinse off of my aching body. Quidditch was definitely a work out, for sure, and despite it being my favorite pasttime, it definitely took a toll on my body. After actively playing Quidditch all my life, I never questioned why my dad retired from playing himself to work for the Ministry of Magic as the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.  
I washed my hair, lathered myself up, and after I was clean, stood in the shower stall for a while, letting the water rush over me. It was relaxing just to stand by myself sometimes, able to think.  
I couldn't believe it was already my seventh year. My time at Hogwarts was officially almost over. So much was going on outside of the school itself, it was hard to know whether or not things would work out as I had wanted them.

I heard a knock on the door as Marlene told me to hurry up, and I turned the water off and got out quickly, completely having forgotten she needed to shower too.  
I quickly put on my dress I had hanging and wand-dried my hair straight, and made my way down to the Common Room.  
Sirius was there, hair wet, lounging on the couch in front of the fireplace, with none other than Lucia.  
He looked up from the fire and smiled at me, his dimple indenting into his face. The fire reflected in his eyes, making them look as if they were burning themselves. I turned my focus to the girl fawning over him.  
"Lucia," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm, "_great_ practice today. You're a natural."  
Sirius gave me a look, as if to ask what I was doing.  
"Thanks! You're pretty good too." The blonde bounced back, not even picking up on my tone, and I chuckled. She was such a bimbo. I was _pretty good_?  
"Don't tell her things like that," Sirius said to her, "you'll make her abnormally large head grow even bigger."  
Lucia giggled, hitting him playfully on the arm. "That's not nice! Her head isn't even that big."  
_That big_? What was she trying to say?  
Her seemingly innocent hazel eyes looked up at me, and she smirked, her eyebrow raised.  
In that moment, I knew what she was trying to do. She was doing that thing that girls do, where they try and nonchalantly tell another girl that she was overstepping her boundaries.  
She was trying to do it to me! As if Sirius was her property! As if I wanted him!  
I laughed really hard, and she looked a bit taken aback, like she wasn't expecting that response.  
"Sirius," I said, smiling sweetly at him, "let's go study for Defence."  
He looked at Lucia, smiled at her handsomely, and stood, nodding at me. Lucia's face fell, and she looked at me.  
I wasn't really trying to start a problem with her, but to be fair, she _did_ start it. I just so happened to have the upper hand, and was so willing to use that against anyone who tried to show me up.  
"Alright. Lucia, I'll see you later tonight, yes?"  
The sitting girl looked back and forth between the two of us. "Um, yeah! Sounds good."  
She got up, and I smiled a ridiculously large smile at her, causing her to furrow her eyebrows in anger and walk off.  
Sirius obviously didn't notice, and he nodded again, looking to me. "Alright, let's get this over with."


	6. Chapter Five

Sirius Black was the most difficult person to get to sit quietly for more than five minutes.

I began tutoring in the Common Room because I had felt bad that he was being forced out of Quidditch and into tutoring.  
I changed my mind very soon after, remembering that my team depended on him raising his marks. We continued our sessions in the library, where, you would think he would have been a bit more quiet and focused.  
This was not the case.  
We had near pitifully gone through the history of werewolfry, and had just gotten to treatment of the illness, yet he kept trying to have conversation with me.

"Hey-" he cut me off in the middle of listing the properties of a Wolfsbane Potion,  
"Has your dad taught you a lot of Quidditch formations?"  
I sighed, and continued listing the necessary ingredients for the potion, but he kept going,  
"I just figured that if you had more to contribute, we could go over them, and take them to James to use this year-"  
I huffed in annoyance. "My dad teaches me everything he knows - like how to shut up and study - your father obviously never taught you any good habits."  
He sat up straight and snapped, "My father taught me that muggleborns are filthy scum who deserve to be picked off one by one by any means possible. I have proudly picked up no _habits_ he attempted to drill into me," he stood, slamming shut his Defence book and tucking it beneath his arm, "I think we're done for today."  
And stormed off.

What had just happened?

I stood up, grabbing my books, and ran out into the corridor after him.  
He was walking fast, his robe billowing out behind him. I didn't think I had ever seen him walk so fast.  
"Sirius!" I called his name a couple times, but he kept walking, so I picked my pace up to a jog and caught up to him. He didn't even look my way.

He got to the Common Room before me, spat the password, and the Fat Lady slammed in my face, denying me passage inside.  
I repeated the password, "_Snitchnip._"  
The Fat Lady cleared her throat. "Move on."  
"Excuse me?" I started getting angry. "This is _my_ Common Room, now _open up_!"  
"I am entitled to give Mr. Black his privacy," she said in her sing-song voice, "trust me, he doesn't want you going in there."  
"Too bad! It's my Common Room!"

She turned her head, raising her chin, continuing to deny me access to the room.  
I growled. "You know what, fine, I don't have time for this."  
I turned and walked away, storming off to the only place that would make much sense: the Quidditch pitch.


End file.
